Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for supporting a honeycomb formed body formed by horizontal extrusion by a cradle wherein an extruding direction is horizontal. More particularly, the present invention relates to a supporting method of a honeycomb formed body capable of suppressing the deformation of the honeycomb formed body due to a load, which applied from a cradle to the honeycomb formed body, by reducing the load at the time of supporting the honeycomb formed body formed by horizontal extrusion by the cradle, even if the honeycomb formed body has a large size.
Description of Related Art
In various fields of chemistry, power, iron and steel and the like, a ceramic honeycomb structure has been employed as a carrier for a catalyst device to be used for an environment countermeasure, recovery of a specific substance, or the like. Moreover, the ceramic honeycomb structure has broadly been used as an exhaust gas purifying filter such as a diesel particulate filter (DPF).
Such a honeycomb structure is usually manufactured by drying and firing a honeycomb-shaped formed body (the honeycomb formed body) obtained by extrusion. As the extrusion of the honeycomb structure, there is employed horizontal extrusion (e.g., see Patent Document 1) in which an extruding direction is horizontal, or vertical extrusion (e.g., see Patent Document 2) in which the extruding direction is vertical (downward).
In general, the horizontal extrusion is employed for formation of a small honeycomb formed body having an outer diameter smaller than about 150 mm, and the vertical extrusion is employed for formation of a large honeycomb formed body having an outer diameter of 150 mm or more.
[Patent Document 1] JP-A-2004-142160
[Patent Document 2] JP-A-H04-81509